LeBron James is in year 23 in the NBA, his eighth with the Los Angeles Lakers.

As ESPN’s Dave McMenamin wrote on Tuesday, the 2025-26 season could mark the end of LeBron’s All-NBA streak, which currently sits at 21. He needs to hit the 65-game mark to be eligible.

On top of that, McMenamin wrote that according to sources close to LeBron, he’s still “undecided” about whether this will be his final season.

Will there be a way to know that he is retiring before LeBron announces it himself?

Yes. As McMenamin highlighted, if LeBron makes every effort possible to be available for games, it could mean that he’s viewing this season as a retirement tour.

Los Angeles wants LeBron, who missed the first 14 games of the season with sciatica, to be in the best shape possible before the playoffs.

The main goal is to win another championship with LeBron, and to do so, prioritizing rest will be key for the soon-to-be 41-year-old. However, not only will that end his All-NBA streak (he can miss only three more games), but it could also throw his retirement decision into question.

LeBron James is still ‘undecided’ about retirement

The Lakers are a top-three team in the West with a 13-4 record, and they got there with LeBron sidelined for all but three games.

Although it’s still early, they look like a team that can make a deep playoff run. One would assume that LeBron’s desire to win another title would surpass a retirement tour for this season. If he did treat this season as a retirement tour, he’d play in as many games as he could, which could jeopardize his health for the postseason.

That doesn’t sound like something LeBron would do, but until it’s official, questions will continue to swirl.

LeBron has never been the kind of player who misses games for rest, but it comes with the territory of his age. If, for whatever reason, he plays in games that fans would otherwise prefer him to rest, that could be a sign that he will hang his jersey up at the end of the season.

Again, that doesn’t sound like LeBron. It’s not like the Lakers are the Clippers or something, sitting at the bottom of the West.

The reality is that LeBron’s time in the NBA will come to a close sooner rather than later, but if we’re being honest, this never felt like the season where it’d all end.

He is on an expiring contract as the Lakers didn’t discuss an extension with him during the offseason, meaning he is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

It seems more likely that he’ll leave LA than retire, but to be clear, Lakers fans don’t want to see either happen.

The takeaway is, as always, to enjoy watching LeBron play for as long as you can. Everyone knows, or should know, by now not to take it for granted.